"I have to read it all?"
"No. Just the summation and the name at the end."
Five minutes later, Jen slammed down the data pad. "Great! My father. And he blamed you."
"Not in so many words."
"He didn't have to." Jen shook her head and sagged onto a nearby bench. "When you met my father he joked about my high standards and past boyfriends not lasting long. Remember? That was always my decision, but some of them also ran head-on into my father's standards for me, which frankly seem a lot more restrictive than my own."
"Oh. I'd wondered why he didn't recuse himself from the investigation. Now I'm wondering even more, if he goes after your boyfriends."
"My father should have refused to conduct this investigation because he couldn't be impartial. But he didn't, because sure as hell he honestly believes he was impartial. You just happened to not come out all that well in the investigation. He could swear to the truth of that without hesitation." Jen rubbed her face with both palms. "Now I also have to worry about him getting charged with some kind of dereliction of duty."
"What? You mean for going into the investigation biased? I wouldn't charge him, if that's what you're thinking."
"I don't think you're that big an idiot."
"I love you, too. As for anyone else… intent counts a great deal in violations like that. If your father honestly believed he was being impartial, if he thought he had no bias, then he didn't intend conducting an investigation improperly. His personal judgment could be questioned, but he didn't set out to break any laws."
"Good. Not that you're a lawyer or anything, but I appreciate your telling me that." Jen slumped a little more. "Obviously, you found evidence enough to charge this Silver guy. Is that based upon my father's investigation?"
"Uh, no."
"You found evidence he hadn't uncovered?"
"Yes."
Jen stared at Paul. "Oh, is he going to be pissed."
"That's what I figured."
"You haven't talked to him since the investigation?"
"Would you have in my place?"
"No way." She suddenly looked tired. "I knew Chief Asher. He was good people."
"That's what I hear."
"The first priority is finding out for certain if this Silver killed him through sheer careless stupidity. That's all that matters."
"It's not an open-and-shut case, Jen. A lot of it's circumstantial."
"All the more reason to dig as deeply as we can to find the truth. The Mahan 's in port. Let's go over and talk to my father. Don't look like that. We'll work it out. My dad's a reasonable man."
This time the sharply turned out ensign on the quarterdeck of the Mahan looked startled when Jen asked to speak to the captain. After a call to Captain Shen conducted in whispered tones on the quarterdeck's end, the ensign beckoned to his messenger of the watch. "Escort these two officers to the captain's cabin."
Paul tried to keep his breathing steady, tried not to think ahead, until they were ushered in to the captain's cabin and faced Kay Shen once again. Captain Shen looked steadily at Jen for a long moment, not offering them a seat.
"I'm disappointed, Jen." Captain Shen shook his head to underscore his words. "You had considerable time to rethink this relationship. I expect better judgment from you."
Jen glared back at him. "What does that mean?"
"It means you'd benefit from my guidance in this situation, young lady."
"Are you under the illusion that I'm some piece of property which belongs to you? That I'm incapable of acting independently?"
"It's no illusion that you're still young and in need of guidance."
"I don't believe this. I'm an officer, Dad. I could've ended up sucking vacuum on my last cruise if a back-up seal had failed while we were doing emergency repairs. Repairs I was overseeing. I am not a child in need of 'guidance' on how to live my life."
"You're disproving that little speech by your own actions, by letting your emotions get in the way of your judgment, Jen."
"Of course I'm deciding this based on emotions! You don't decide to forge a serious relationship with someone else based purely on logic! Or have you forgotten that?"
"I haven't forgotten that this young man has displayed a serious lack of judgment of his own which has no relation to what is going on between you. If he's incapable of carrying out his duties properly, and if he responds to corrective advice by attempting to besmirch the reputations of other officers — "
" He is standing right here! If there's something you want to say to Paul, say it to him!"
Paul, already upset over the fight he was witnessing, felt his guts tighten as Captain Shen whirled to face him. Gee, thanks, Jen. Not wanting to give Captain Shen the initiative, he spoke quickly. "Sir, follow-on investigation revealed — "
"Oh, yes." Captain Shen frowned at Paul. "Follow-on investigation. You didn't want to accept the results of my investigation so you cooked up something that blames someone else."
"That's not true, sir!"
"Now I'm a liar, huh?"
"No, sir! I — "
"Mr. Sinclair, I don't want to see you on my ship again, and I'd thank you to stay away from my daughter from this point forward."
Paul felt his face flushing with anger. "Sir, Jen is the only person who can tell me to stay away from her."
"Wasn't my order clear enough for you?"
"That's not a legal order, sir, as you're well aware. I'm under no obligation to obey it."
"A sea lawyer." Captain Shen faced Jen again. "That's what you want? A damn sea lawyer?"
Jen's eyes were hard. " I'll decide what I want, dad. Let's go, Paul." She came to attention and saluted formally. "By your leave, sir."
Captain Shen snapped a fast, angry salute in reply. "I expected better of you."
Not replying, Jen led Paul out of the stateroom and out to the Mahan 's quarterdeck, the surprised messenger of the watch hastily following them all the way, then onto the dock. They walked in silence for a few minutes, Jen moving quickly with her face tight, Paul knowing she needed time to deal with the scene they'd just left. Finally, she erupted. "I cannot believe this! Who does he think he is? Who does he think I am? Who does he think you are? Say something, Paul!"
"Which question am I answering?"
"You don't have to answer any of them." Jen's face shifted from pure rage to a mix of anger and sadness. "I can't believe it."
"I'm really sorry, Jen."
"For what? You didn't do anything."
"I've come between you and your dad."
"No, you haven't. Stop it, Paul Sinclair. Right now. Stop thinking what you're thinking."
"What is it I'm supposed to be thinking?"
"I know you. You're thinking you've come between a loving father and his daughter, and maybe you ought to step aside for a while so they can be a happy family again. No, no, no. You did nothing wrong, here."
"Jen — "
"Paul, have I ever hesitated to tell you when I thought you'd screwed up?"
"Uh, no. You're pretty straightforward about that."
"You didn't come between my dad and me. He did. He's making totally unreasonable demands on my life. Again. He's trying to treat me like his little girl. I'm not a little girl."
"I've noticed that."
"Then you've also noticed that I don't let anyone push me around. I do things for you because you don't act like it's some sort of obligation for me to do whatever you want. Like I need a firm guiding hand to keep me from veering from stupid decision to stupid decision. I can't believe my dad actually thinks he can do that! I'm so mad I'm tempted to haul you off to the nearest chaplain and get married as fast as we can, only if we did that it'd just seem like it was confirming my dad's belief that I'm a hormone-addled lovesick loose cannon." She subsided for a moment, then spoke in a quieter tone. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to endure that. I should've known it'd be a disaster."